Metropolis
by Vadakin
Summary: A series of one shot stories, newspaper articles, letters, diary entries, news reports and interviews featuring the people of the great city of Metropolis.
1. The Man Of Tomorrow?

**THE MAN OF TOMORROW?**

**By Lois Lane**

In an office on the top floor of the tallest building in Metropolis, he sits behind an old oak desk. His back faces the window, blocking my view of the unparalleled view of the city. His suit is custom fitted by an Italian designer. It's unique. It's for him and only him. Alexander Luthor. Named by his father for Alexander The Great. "Alexander wanted to rule the world. My ambitions aren't quite so lofty." His words may ring falls somehow given his status in our great city. "Only my father ever called me Alexander. He never made me forget who I was named for. I have been Lex since I was a boy." Indeed, Lex seems to have spent his whole life trying to escape his father. "Lionel was a stern father, even before my mother passed. When she died, he turned to alcohol. His dreams for me turned to regrets for himself. Regrets he took out on me with a belt or a bottle."

To look at Lex Luthor today, it's hard to imagine that he ever had a hard life, that he ever went hungry. The Luthors were well known in Metropolis. They were a part of high society and very influential in local politics. That was a century ago. The Wall Street crash of 1929 saw the Luthor family lose everything. "My grandfather inherited his fortune. He was advised to invest it and he did so. When the crash happened, he couldn't bear the shame. He committed suicide." Lionel Luthor was just three years old when his father jumped from the construction site of the Daily Planet building. Lionel and his mother were left penniless. Lionel would grow up to work in the old railyards, a place Lex would often go to play as a child. "I would watch sheets of metal and wood be transformed into giant trains that went all around the country. I thought my father was brilliant. He was just a metal worker but still, he played a part in connecting everyone. It made me want to build things, to bring people together."

The Metropolis Railyards were closed down in 1978, an event that impacted the Luthor family beyond measure. "We were never wealthy. I wouldn't have even called us middle class. But we got by. When my father lost his job we had to sell the house and move into a small apartment in Suicide Slums. It wasn't called that at the time of course. Crime was rife but nowhere near as bad as it is today. We were just lucky to have a roof over our heads." The loss of Lionel's job had larger consequences than where the family would live. Lionel and Lillian had been sending little Alexander to a private school. His genius had become apparent as a toddler and they were determined to give their son the best chance of success. Without a steady income, Lex was forced to attend public school in the Slums. "It wasn't the best of times. That school was severely underfunded. Most of the kids there were from poor families and all the crime on the streets seemed to have a profound effect on them. Was I bullied? Sure I was. I was the smart kid at the front of the class who knew all the answers before the poorly educated teacher could look them up in her answer book. But I survived. Brains didn't always beat braun but I managed to get through."

The greatest tragedy of Lex's life happened in 1981. Lillian Luthor contracted pneumonia and with no health insurance or money to pay for care, she was spit out by the system, told to wrap up warm and drink fluids as if she had nothing but a mild head cold. Her death has since spawned Lex Luthor's health initiative, a program whereby any citizen of Metropolis can avail of health care free of charge should they not be able to afford their own. It is a program that is paid for by Lex Luthor's company – LexCorp. "It's not so much about me giving something back as it about a selfish desire to make sure that what happened to my mother doesn't happen to someone else." Lionel Luthor soon turned to the bottle for comfort and began taking out his frustrations on Lex. "A few lashes from his belt were nothing. I knew his pain. I felt it as well. I could deal with that. When he was drunk he was violent and abrasive. I was ten, maybe eleven. But that's not what hurt the most. It was the times when he was sobering up, when the hangover hit. He couldn't look at me. He was cold. I think he died when my mother did. What was left was an empty shell going through the motions. I found myself waiting for him to get drunk because even though he was violent, at least he noticed me."

It's hard not to notice Lex Luthor these days. His trademarked bald head is plastered across billboards throughout the city, promoting his project to renovate the Slums and rejuvenate that entire area. Like everything else in Lex Luthor's life, the story of Lex's chrome dome is an intriguing one. It is commonly believed that he was born that way. This is far from true. "I had red hair. The curly kind that everyone hates. I hated it." And does he long to have it back? "In brief moments of vanity I look in the mirror and wonder. But I've been bald for so long it's but a vague memory." He stands up and guides me to a glass case near the rear of his office. "I was twelve when it happened. I was reading in the railyards. Nietzsche I think it was. The railyards were closed by then of course but I still went there all the time. There must have been a meteor shower though I've since asked astronomers who were working during that time and I even went to NASA. There was never any record of a meteor shower over the United States. A few small meteorites hit the ground not far from me. I was a smart child but still, a child. Curiosity got the better of me." When Lex went to investigate the fallen meteorite, he couldn't help but reach out to touch it. "I should have known better. If it had fallen from the sky it would have been extremely hot. I found out the hard way." Lex raised his right hand, covered by a black glove, his skin having been burned away by the meteorite. "It's a lesson I'll never forget. Always stop and think. Always be careful." The meteorite did more than burn the flesh from his hand. "I didn't notice it at first. It didn't occur to me that it would be radioactive. It was so small, small enough to fit in my hand. My hair started to fall out. It started and it didn't stop. Now the only things that grow there are ideas." Inside the glass case sits that same meteorite. It looks slightly green in color and is joined by a few others that Lex found upon going back there a few days later. Strange for a man who doesn't appear to value sentiment. "I keep them as reminders. In a strange way, what happened inspired me. Burning my hand, losing my hair...it taught me of the fragility of my existence and that I need to make the most of life."

At fourteen, Lex had himself emancipated from his father. Lionel died of liver failure in 1997, living long enough to see his son reach his potential but without ever reconciling. "It saddens me. I didn't even know he had died. I was at a technology conference in Switzerland. Would I have liked to have put things behind us? Of course. But it wasn't to be." He attended Metropolis State University, becoming it's youngest ever graduate at seventeen. "I had so many job offers. Bill Gates came to see me personally. He was the richest man in the world and he was in my small apartment offering me a job." Lex was even approached by the CIA. "That was an interesting one. I'm not entirely sure what they wanted from me. They mentioned code breaking but it just seemed so mundane. They weren't the only government agency to come knocking either but I knew from the beginning that I needed to be my own man, to answer only to myself." At nineteen, he founded LexCorp. "Lachlan, my grandfather, ran the family business into the ground. It was called LuthorCorp. I contemplated bringing that company back from the dead so to speak but what became LexCorp needed to belong to me. It's legacy had to be mine. I wasn't interested in trading on past glories or being reminded of past failures. Plus I didn't really know what I wanted to do. LexCorp seemed generic enough to do anything."

These days, LexCorp does everything. From manufacturing to pharmaceuticals, weapons to the building trade, media to charitable foundations, Lex Luthor has his fingers in a lot of pies. He even attempted a takeover of Wayne Enterprises before its owner and CEO returned from an extended sabbatical and halted the deal. "We all thought he was dead. A merger between the two companies seemed ideal, especially given the many common interests between the two companies. Bruce Wayne put a stop to it and now Wayne Enterprises is stronger than ever. I'm glad of that. I don't see us as competitors. Companies like Wayne's and Queen Industries want to make a better world. I'm happy to share in that dream." Even companies with no apparent association with LexCorp seem to owe a lot to its founder. It's long been rumored that Lex was in part responsible for the rise of Apple in mobile devices. "Steve (Jobs) is a smart guy. He didn't need my help. I had contemplated moving into the telecommunications market with a device that did pretty much everything but the company wasn't set up for that. What Steve did was pretty ingenius, starting with the music market before gradually expanding. Believe me I wish I'd thought of it."

LexCorp's achievements have seen Metropolis rise from a failing city of industry to a thriving financial centre. Lex Luthor's success in breathing life into the city and making it one of the premier places to live and work in America has prompted many people to label him as "The Man of Tomorrow" - a label he seems uncomfortable with. "People talk of the future, of tomorrow. I don't want to change the world tomorrow. We can't wait for a better tomorrow. If we do we'll be waiting forever. We have to change the world today." And is that his ultimate goal? To change the world? "I'm just one man. Even I can't help everyone. But if others see fit to follow my example, all the better." So how would he label himself? "I'm a mad scientist. Anything I dream of I believe I can turn into reality. Some people have called me a business mogul. I read an article in your own paper that suggested I was the greatest criminal mind of our age. It's a catchy title Ms. Lane but not one that fits."

Criticism of LexCorp and its founder have been hard to come by of late, following its take over of media conglomerate, Galaxy Broadcasting. "I believe in a free and independent press. I believe in truth. I believe in justice. LexCorp is in a great position to bring truth to the world. I have no interest in gagging the media. I have no interest in propaganda. That is why I agreed to this interview. I don't own the Daily Planet. Your newspaper has been the most critical of me and that is why it had to be you who interviewed me. A critical eye is always welcome."

Lex Luthor's reign as master of Metropolis hasn't been without controversy. He personally oversaw the radical renovation of the business sector of the city, now known as the Hyper Sector, home to the LexCorp building and a stones throw from my desk at the Daily Planet. It had been suggested that Lex used criminal elements to force old businesses out of the area to make way for the glistening skyscrapers and corporate entities that exist here today. It is a claim he strenuously denies. "I grew up in Suicide Slums. I know the effect that crime can have on a society. Associating with criminals isn't my idea of affecting change." It remains true however that Lex Luthor's influence spreads across the city and beyond. "I hear this all the time. I have the Mayor's office bought and paid for. I won the election for the governor. Yes it's true that I paid for most of the new housing developments. It's true that I own most of the media outlets in town. It's true that I have friends in high places. It's also true that LexCorp gives more aid to the poor of this city than any government run program. It's also true that LexCorp has several education centers around the country in order to give children a chance at a good education regardless of their social or economic status. It's also true that LexCorp operates several projects in various third world countries to improve living conditions. I've donated more money to the Red Cross than anyone on the planet. LexCorp's research facility at STAR Labs is leading the field in finding cures for AIDS, cancer and various other diseases that threaten our right to life."

Yet for all his philanthropy, his company is the biggest arms supplier not only to the US, but many other nations in the western hemisphere. "Part of LexCorp is dedicated to the manufacturing of state of the art weaponry for the United States and our allies. But it is only part of it. Government contracts are about more than weapons. We have built over a dozen schools and hospitals in Iraq and Afghanistan in the last five years alone. Metropolis General Hospital's state of the art facilities were paid for by LexCorp money. I could list everything LexCorp does and be here all day but if you wish to focus on weapons, so be it. We live in an imperfect world Ms. Lane. Do I wish there were no wars? Of course. The weapons my company builds, weapons I helped design, are meant to save people. Collateral damage is a bigger killer in war than battlefield skirmishes. Our targeting systems are the most advanced in the world with pin point accuracy, meaning that missiles hit their targets and only their targets. Everything our weapons division produces is designed to be clean and reduce the risk to civilian life. Of course the world would be better without weapons or war but don't live in a fantasy. If war must happen, is it not better to use weapons that minimize unintended consequences? I believe so."

Even as he defends his company, Lex remains calm and composed. It is not hard to see why he is the darling of politicians, respected by business leaders and loved by the people he has helped. His latest project which is currently going through the City Council for approval, is a radical renovation of Suicide Slums. "It's simple really. Instead of papering over the cracks I want to tear down the wall completely and start again. The Slums is a dreadful place. Metropolis is suppose to be the jewel in the crown of America's great cities but the Slums make it a flawed jewel. My goal is to rebuild it and make it better." And what of people currently residing there? "People are attached to their homes, even when they hate them. I don't want to displace anybody. Anyone living in the Slums who wants to live there after the rejuvenation is complete will be given one of the new houses. LexCorp will even pay for temporary accommodation while the area is rebuilt. This isn't a property scheme as your paper has suggested. Land is of little interest to me. What interests me is progress and people. We need to eradicate the criminal element in this city and it starts in the Slums. In five years time, the name Suicide Slums will be a thing of the past."

Lex's rise to prominence in Metropolis was nothing short of meteoric. By the time Lex turned 25, he was a self-made billionaire, profiting from his many creations. "I'm an inventor at heart. I always have been. It goes back to watching my father build trains." LexCorp Tower, saw Lex literally rise to the top of Metropolis. Perhaps he likes looking down on people? "Not at all. This building isn't a container for my ego. It's a symbol for progress and for the future but as I've already said, the future doesn't interest me. It's about today. If LexCorp is about anything it's about changing our reality as it exists, not what we wish it was. And what of his free time? "I don't have free time," he jokes, "I'm always working on something, even when I'm not supposed to be. This is fun for me. Relaxing vacations are a myth in my life." It has been suggested that he might run for governor at the next election and possibly even President. "I feel like I can do more good on my own. Politics is a noble cause. It's just not my cause. At least not at the moment." If Lex ever does decide to run for office, he will most likely do so as an independent, having been critical of both political parties numerous times. Unlike most independents, he has the money to run a campaign and the influence to get both parties on side should he win. "It's really not something I think about. I won't say it will never interest me but I'm at a stage in my life where political power would do more to prevent me from achieving my ultimate goals than aid me." For Lex Luthor it seems, the office of the President would amount to a demotion. "I probably wouldn't make a good political leader in truth. Compromise has never been my strong suit."

And what of Lex Luthor's legacy? "I recently turned forty. I've only lived half my life. It's a bit early to think about legacies." But if he were to die tomorrow? "I don't know. Lex Luthor the man isn't important. If people forget me it isn't important. What matters is what I leave behind. I hope I will have contributed something worthy to the world. That's all anyone can ask for I think."

As Ms. Graves, his personal assistant enters to inform me that our time is up, I am reminded once again of the kind of man Lex Luthor is. Mercy Graves was homeless until she met Lex Luthor. He gave her his coat to keep her warm and a thousand dollars in the coat pocket. When she tried to steal his wallet, rather than turn her over to the police, he gave her a job. In truth Lex Luthor is a bit of an enigma. His life story is one of overcoming obstacles to achieve ones goals. He has helped many people in Metropolis and around the world. Yet there remains a side to him that remains hidden behind his eyes. His drive to succeed has seen speculation arise about the dark parts of his path. It has been suggested that upon emancipating himself at fourteen, Lex fell in with the criminal organization Intergang, allowing him to fund his education through criminal deeds. He has always denied this strenuously as part of a smear campaign by the media. It has even been suggested that his reason for buying out Galaxy Broadcasting was to silence that speculation. Rumors of a continuing relationship with Intergang persist in some quarters. What is true is that there are no police records to indicate such an association at any time in his life. It's also true that Lex Luthor is perhaps the most respected man on the East Coast, especially in Metropolis. "People tell me I own Metropolis. But for all my money and influence, I am just a citizen. I love this city and the people in it. I don't want to own this city, I merely want to be a part of it."

_- From The Daily Planet, October 1st 2011_


	2. A City Of Change

**A CITY OF CHANGE**

**By Lois Lane**

It's midday. Cars have been abandoned on the freeway. Most buildings in the financial district are empty. A flow of people stream out of the city, leaving behind everything they know. Somewhere near the newly finished LexCorp building, the hero known as Superman faces off against another survivor from the planet Krypton. The city has been cut off from the rest of America. If you look across the bay, you can see the top of the Wayne Enterprises building through the fog. Gotham City and Metropolis are so close yet strangely so far apart. Even as Superman battles General Zod, the people of Gotham go on with their lives, unaware or unconcerned with what's happening a couple of miles to the south.

That was three years ago. Metropolis faced a threat unlike any other. The scars of battle have only recently been healed and thanks to Lex Luthor, the man GBS News called the man of tomorrow, Metropolis is back to being the jewel in the crown of the American East Coast that it's been for over 70 years. Time moves forward. In three short years, the world has been exposed to wonders it used to imagine existed in the realms of fantasy fiction and comic books. It began with Superman. I was on board Air Force One when he appeared and plucked it out of the sky. I witnessed his epic battle with General Zod. This newspaper had exclusive coverage of the event and exclusive comments from the Man of Steel himself. At the same time across the bay, a masked vigilante took down the Falcone Crime Syndicate. When the mysterious Green Lantern saved Coast City from the devil-faced Sinestro, it had become clear that the whole universe was taking an interest in planet Earth. My colleague Clark Kent put it best in his article, "The Age Of The Superhero" when he suggested that the future of our country could no longer be mired in the politics of the petty. It couldn't be the United States and the rest of the world. It had to be the whole world, one world of many across the cosmos.

We have been forced to evolve as a society. At the height of the Cold War, the space race led to new innovation as two superpowers sought to conquer the stars. But the stars aren't easily conquered and we have been forced to evolve and innovate to deal with the new reality of that has been presented to us. But as we look to the future, as Metropolis strives to become the city of tomorrow, we cannot allow ourselves to forget the past. Before the age of the superhero, before Superman, Metropolis was a city striving to find its identity. It was through Lex Luthor that our city's future would be secured. Luthor owns a third of the buildings in Metropolis and is heavily invested in everything else. Metropolis was to be his city. His work in reshaping the Hyper Sector, which for you suburbanites is our financial sector in the heart of New Troy Island, allowed Metropolis to compete with Wall Street. New York was the postcard for America. It was the city you thought of when you thought of the great American cities. Luthor sought to change that. His vision for a city of the future, where every man and woman had a job, where arts and culture would be redefined and where every the elite of the financial markets would come to do business was well on its way to becoming a reality.

The Metropolis of today still follows that path. LexCorp remains at the forefront of innovation and continues to drive the city to new heights. Luthor's company stood to lose a lot of money due to the Kryptonian invasion. Much of the destruction fell down upon LexCorp-owned buildings. Some wondered if LexCorp could recover from such catastrophic losses. It not only recovered, it thrived, rebuilding its own property and that of everyone else who had lost their homes or places of work. Metropolis, as a feat of engineering and architecture, as a vision of what the city of the future should look like, is the most successful city on the planet. But the soul of a city is not in steel and concrete. It's not in the new sky-train that connects the six boroughs, it's in the people.

So let's go back three years to that fateful day. Cars abandoned on the roadside. People walking the streets, heading for the city limits. How do you evacuate ten million people? You don't. You can't. What the official reports of that day won't tell you about is what happened on the ground. The decisions that were made by the people entrusted with protecting us. The mistakes. The blunders. The triumphs. Ten million people didn't get out of the city. The highest estimate puts evacuated civilians at around two million. It was probably closer to one million. Either way, you had eight to ten million people stuck in a city when the barricades went up. It was said that the barricades were meant to keep people from going back in. In truth it was meant to keep the aliens from getting out. It was a futile gesture of course. Their ability to fly had been well documented. It was all about maintaining the appearance of control. They had none of course. Mayor Berkowitz had called the Governor and the Governor had sent in the National Guard. They rolled into Glenmorgan Square and were decimated by Zod. There was no choice but to call in every conceivable branch of the armed forces. To see the US Army operating on American soil was a disheartening sight. To hear the roar of F-22s overhead, attempting to create a no-fly zone around the city was frightening. But what could they do? The might of our military was powerless against the Kryptonians.

When Superman appeared to challenge General Zod, those of us who remained in the city knew he was our only hope. But the military couldn't be seen to be leaving the fate the city, the country, of the entire world to an alien they didn't know and couldn't trust. I trusted him. Even if the military commanders trusted him, what would happen if he lost? Something had to be done. A missile strike was ordered. You won't read that in official documents. You won't hear the top brass at the Pentagon admit to it. But it almost happened. A tactical missile strike that would have leveled downtown Metropolis. There were at least eight million people left in the city. Over two million were on New Troy. They had nowhere to go. They could only hide in their homes and try to wait it out, hope that it would be all over soon. Many of them would have died had the missile strike gone ahead. It didn't. The Generals and Admirals and politicians were eventually convinced to give Superman a chance. But if they hadn't been, if a missile strike had gone ahead and killed countless American citizens, would it have been a price we were willing to pay?

"_What were we supposed to do?"_ one of the people present at the meetings in the forward command base, who wishes to remain anonymous, asked me. _"If Superman lost, Metropolis…the whole world was done for."_ So what changed their minds? Why did they wait? Did they come to believe in Superman? _"It wasn't so much about Superman. He'd presented himself as an ally but even if he beat Zod, what was to stop him from turning on us?"_ So why wait? _"The people around the table came to believe that a conventional missile strike would be ineffective. Zod had already destroyed everything we'd thrown at him."_ Conventional was off the table then. Were they considering the nuclear option?_ "Well we had to. We had the conversation. What choice did we have? Nobody wanted to nuke Metropolis. Those were Americans down there. But it was decided to wait."_ For Superman? _"Yes. For Superman,"_ my source replied. _"If he succeeded and didn't use his power against us, it would of course be a victory. If he failed or if he was shown to be fighting against the United States…" _The bomb would have been dropped? _"Maybe…"_

Metropolis could have been destroyed by our own weapons and not the alien threat. It's a scary thought. But an understandable one. How far should we go to protect our cities? Should a couple of million people be sacrificed to save the world? These are questions of ideals, of philosophy. In truth the world isn't black and white. Having the nuclear option on the table was practical. I bring it up not to deride the military. I come from a military family. My father is a a General in the US Army. The military showed remarkable strength and restraint on that day and they should be commended for it. I bring it up because it illustrates the world we now live in.

Aliens are a reality. The age of the Superhero is a reality. They're out there. Saving lives. Their exploits may have drawn the attention of forces beyond our comprehension, forces we are ill-prepared to deal with. Some have argued that we would be better off without the heroes, that we wouldn't have been exposed to the dangers of the universe had they not appeared. The reality is, we've been sending signals into space long before the first "cape" showed up. We were already out there, telling the cosmos that we're here. At least now we have people to come to our aid.

Eighteen months ago, the United Nations Security Council agreed on an approach to superheroes while the General Assembly signed what became known as the Superman Act. The rise of superheroes required an official response on a global level. The Superman Act allowed for superheroes to freely cross national borders in the interest of saving lives. Various rules that defined what a superhero could and couldn't do were put in place with particular emphasis being placed on crime fighting and actions within a war zone. The Superman Act was more of an exercise in philosophy than politics. No heroes, not even the man who the act was named for, were consulted. The debate went on for months. What was morally acceptable? When, if ever, could heroes violate national laws in pursuit of criminals? In truth, the Superman Act was written due to a desire to have something written down in acknowledgement of the changing world. The idea of trying to police superhero exploits is ludicrous. Many of these people are far too powerful to be held accountable by the law unless they choose to be. Even the question of what constitutes a superhero split the Security Council. Is the Gotham vigilante known as Batman a superhero? He has never been seen to exhibit superhuman abilities. In the end, it was decided that the question would be left to individual nations to answer for themselves. Superman is universally recognized as a superhero. Batman is recognized as a superhero in just thirty eight countries. The practical questions that arise when dealing with this new era are many and the answers are few. Metropolis has been at the forefront of finding ways to exist in relevancy.

It has been said that every hero needs a villain. If that's true, then it surely follows that every superhero needs a supervillain. It is hardly surprising that the criminal class has begun to adapt to the superhero era. They've had to. When you're dealing with people who can move mountains, create any object they can think of and in some cases, have even been given the power of gods we used to call myths, you're going to need more than armor-piercing bullets if you plan on robbing banks. Why any prospective criminal would commit a crime in Metropolis or across the bay in Gotham is baffling. But the criminals have found ways to fight back. Advanced weaponry, diversion tactics and even attempts to counter act specific abilities of the superheroes are just some of the things criminals have done. Of course not every super-powered person becomes a hero. The term "metahuman" has been used to describe those with superpowers and for every hero that emerges, a villain isn't far behind. While there are those who are concerned with the ultimate goal of superheroes, supervillains are a threat here and now and in a city like Metropolis, we cannot allow ourselves to rely on a man who can't be everywhere at once. He's Superman. Not God.

When the biggest criminals in Metropolis found themselves under threat, they did the unthinkable - they united. This newspaper has run numerous stories on the organized crime syndicate known as Intergang. Every gang in Metropolis, uniting to become an army of criminals to stand against our greatest heroes. Controlled by the notorious Bruno Mannheim, Intergang has achieved some success in unlawful activities. It has been suggested that Superman could destroy the organization if he chose to. But that isn't Superman's job. His role in this city, in the world, is to save people and to inspire us to save ourselves. Just as the criminals have adapted, we have had to do the same.

The Special Crimes Unit, headed by Lieutenant Margaret Sawyer, is the envy of every police force in the country. The SCU is something of an experiment. Can a police force be effective in this new world? The SCU is attempting to answer that question. Working with technology initially developed for the military, the SCU is on the front line, standing toe-to-toe with supervillains. Stryker's Island Penitentiary has been transformed to house the most powerful criminals in the world. The experiment has thus far proved to be a huge success. Appearances by Superman at active crimes have dropped significantly in the months since the SCU was formed. The message is clear. He doesn't go where he isn't needed.

But for all our advances, a question hangs over our heads - what's the cost? When buildings are decimated, cars are tossed around like paper and the only option is to respond with expensive technology, it all adds up. Insurance premiums in Metropolis have risen significantly in the past three years. Interestingly enough, so have house prices. The city's budget has ballooned, accountants and politicians alike are weighing up damage costs against lives saved. Just how much is a life worth these days? One thousand? Two? We need to wake up. We need to realize that our city, our society faces a future much larger than we could have ever predicted. The world has changed and Metropolis is at the heart of it. The City Council are expected to vote on measures to expand the city's emergency relief fund in less than ten days. It isn't expected to be passed. Opponents of the measures insist that it is unfair to place the burden of paying for damages caused by unregistered vigilantes on the citizens of Metropolis. Proponents argue that these so-called vigilante's are performing a public service in keeping the city safe. They ask for no recognition or reward. In fact many argue that Superman has almost single-handedly tripled the influx of tourists into the city.

Ultimately, the vote may be irrelevant. A proposal by some of the largest companies in Metropolis, led by LexCorp, would see a discretionary fund established by the private sector in Metropolis, to be used with oversight by the city. In essence, the Metropolis elite would pay to keep the city standing. It is a move that has surprised many but with rumors continuing to swirl of a possible run for office by Lex Luthor, this apparent act of civic pride, political ploy or not, may make even the most hardened of skeptics feel a little better about the heroes flying over our heads - as long as they don't have to pay for it.

The renovation of the area known as Suicide Slums is scheduled to be complete by years end. Whether the project meets its goals and provides safe and affordable housing for the poor of Metropolis who spent years in a cycle of crime remains to be seen. But Metropolis has always been on the forefront of change. Metropolis is a city right on the edge of the future. Metropolis is where the genius of Lex Luthor prospered. Metropolis is where the world's greatest hero first chose to appear. They call it the city of tomorrow. Sounds about right.

_- From The Daily Planet, March 22nd 2015_


End file.
